Madrid and L'Escala

Well well well, I'm sure you've all been eagerly awaiting this next blog which is yet again slightly late. It's also probably going to be quite long as there's a fair few things to cram but I'll try to be as succinct as possible! Still loving life though so busyness is a good thing! I have a mere 5 weeks left in school which I'm really finding hard to comprehend as I really don't want this year to end. Honestly though, I'm really looking forward to coming back to the UK as I have literally only spent about 5 days there this year and quite frankly, I miss it and all its glorious Britishisms. However, not coming back here afterwards is going to be a real bummer. Either way, I have 2 months of Montpellier to look forward to this summer- more on that in a moment.

So, as it's been a while since me and my university friends have seen each other, we decided that it would be a good idea to reconvene in the countries capital, Madrid! The trip didn't quite get off to a smooth start as me and Emily only just made the flight with about 5 minutes to spare- I nearly had a heart attack. Once there, however, it was just as much of an effort trying to find the hostel and it's various buildings located all over Plaza Espana. However, we were settled in and off we went for some TGI Fridays as a reward for all our hardship over the day. 

The next day, the amigas arrived!! It was super to see them all again and laugh and exchange our funny year abroad happenings as we're all scattered all over Spain doing various things. We did loads of touristy things like the walk down the Gran Via (the main drag through Madrid), visit the Royal Palace, some museums, and the lush park with all it's fountains and whatnot. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so plenty of ice creams were eaten and sangria consumed to solve all our heat issues. I can't say we ate many cultural dishes as we all do that at our respective towns/cities anyway. We treated ourselves to English breakfasts everyday and some good hearty burgers and chips. Our hostel was...ok...I mean it was quite small and full of some weird people and spread all over the place but on the whole it served us well for a great weekend! However, Madrid is lovely but Barcelona beats it 10 times over for just being awesome.

After a fun filled weekend in Madrid it was back to reality for a week. Fortunately the sun really shone that week, it was like 27 degrees for a few days and it really felt like summer. So, spontaneously, I booked a mini weekend away to a place called Sitges. You may remember this place as I have already had one failed attempt at going there. However, the weekend I booked this for is forecast to rain all weekend so we shall see what happens there!

Anyway, back to stuff I did. I was fortunate enough to be invited away with a family from the school. Don't worry, this isn't just a random family that told me to get in their car, I already knew the mum as we do a Spanish exchange once a week and I teach some of the kids English at school. the family are all such lovely people; mum, dad, one boy and three girls. They took me to the grandparents' second home/beach house in a place called L'Escala on the Costa Brava. Needless to say it was beautiful- the views and the town. I really felt like part of the family and they wouldn't let me pay for anything (except a round of ice creams), but to be honest it was great being  taken care of for a few days. This sounds slightly weird but it was like going away for the weekend with my family but about 7 years ago- very bizarre but it was so lovely. I met some of their friends there including the crazy Dutch guy who owns the bar and is obsessed with London, the kids next door who have some boundary issues and the rich guy who has just bought a  castle and a horse to go with it. Incidentally, we visited the castle to have a nosey and oh my god it's fabulous! It really is a castle! Perched on a hill looking out to see, my guess is to spot invaders (probably the English) making the view from the terrace on top spectacular! 

Following this slightly exhausting, child filled weekend, I had to work 5 DAYS this week. This was due to missing a day to head to Madrid and then making up for it so that I still do all my hours. In the next few weeks there are some days off where I can have some more fun and games whilst I still have time here!!

Speak to you again soon chaps.

The Easter Oleedays!!

Well, what a busy few weeks it's been. Literally hectic.....but absolutely FABULOUS!!

First of all, when I last posted, I was a mere 20 years old. Now, however, I've turned the grand old age of 21....officially adult age now. And, to help me celebrate this 'joyous' occasion, the family came out to Barcelona for the weekend. The day of my birthday, I had a wee party at my school with the year 6 class, I felt very embarrassed but very happy as they brought cake! It was also my mentor's (the other English teacher) birthday on the same day so it was sort of a joint party and really lovely. 

Then, the family arrived. That's not meant to sound as gloomy as it does. It was brilliant (albeit a little odd) to have them here and to show them around Vic, and I think they liked it. I even gave them a super awesome tour (with super awesome facts) of the city and all it's contents. After having Tapas for lunch (something they had A LOT of that weekend) and fuelling up on cups of tea for the ride back down to Barcelona we parted ways so that I could celebrate with my amigos! We had a lovely meal in a restaurant and then went on to celebrate the way 20 something year olds are supposed to, I won't bore you with the details on that. I'm very lucky to have such great friends and it truly was a great night!



The next day I headed down to meet the tourists. I was feeling a little tired and quite hungover but I wasn't going to let that stop me! We did all the touristy things; Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Montjuic, Olympic Stadium, the beach, the cable car, the food market and basically the whole city. I included more super awesome fun facts whilst we ambled round the best city on the planet! We ate some amazing food (mainly Tapas) and I loved every moment with them all in the big city. I want to thank them for making my 21st a super special time and a birthday remember- love you guys!

Ok so that takes us up to the end of term. I was lucky enough to tag along on a little school trip to a local newspaper company which was really interesting; there's more than just newspaper stuff actually- there was a TV set, radio studios and lots of people running around with bits of paper. It was a super day and it really tested my Catalan, I reckon I understood about 90% of the information which isn't too bad. Although, I have to continue playing dumb to the kids telling them that I didn't understand any of it. This prompted one of the kids to say to me: 'so, you've been here for six months and all you can say is 'hola', that's ridiculous!' It's a little frustrating but it's not the end of the world!
On the last day, we went on the annual bike ride with the school, all 380 of them. Fortunately it was mainly farm tracks and back lanes so there wasn't too many disgruntled old men that couldn't get to their bowls tournament. I'll tell you who did suffer though, my bottom! I was not wearing the appropriate attire for a 17km bike ride and it's safe to say that I suffered a wee bit. Hey-ho, it was great last morning and a good exercise session!

So, the day after was the start of mine and miss Emily's big adventure in Andorra and Toulouse. We set off from Barcelona Sants on the Saturday morning on the coach, not really knowing what to expect in Andorra although we were kind of hoping that we would have to cross a border or something to let us know when we had arrived in the tax-haven. We were not disappointed as we were stopped for some time whilst we had our passports and the bus checked- it was thrilling!

Caldea (the spa)- aka heaven in swimming pool form

Anyway, so we had arrived it what can only be described as a mixture of France, Spain and Catalonia where they speak and mixture of French, Spanish and Catalan. Needless to say our heads were exploding! However, we were on the 'Spanish' side so we got by just fine. We were staying in a little hotel in Escalders which is joined with Andorra la Vella (the 'capital' city) so we were in a great location to explore. We spent our days wandering the tax free shops (which consist mainly of cigarettes and alcohol), going to museums, eating and soaking up the 'Andorrasian' culture. The highlight of the trip was most definitely going to Caldea- Europe's largest spa. We went at 9.30 at night and the best bit about this place is the outdoor section. There was a Jacuzzi and rapids where you could glare up at the stars and the snowy mountains which was connected to the indoor bit by canals that you swan through. It was like swimming pool heaven for me, and although I fell in the pool and subsequently got told off for climbing in the wrong way, it was a fantastic experience!

French and Spanish post boxes side by side

The next day we set off for Toulouse through the mountains of Andorra where there was at least 6 feet of snow, fortunately the roads were clear so we could just admire the beautiful scenery as we headed to the land of wine and frogs legs!
What can I say about Toulouse? Well, it's very French and it's full of French people. Our hostel was in an 'interesting' area of the city so we didn't hang around there too much. We did the standard French touristy things including all the cathedrals, monuments and museums, including the natural history museum which was super! We even went on the awesome but rather chilly Tourist Land Train.

The main square in Toulouse

Surprisingly, the museums were not too expensive but anything else was quite pricey, especially food and alcohol in bars. However, being students we were able to live quite happily and made the most of the city.

So came the end of our road trip, back in time for Easter and ready indulge in a ridiculous amounts of chocolate- courtesy of Emily's family! We had a great few days back in Spain where we made the most of the beautiful weather on the beach- still a little too chilly to swim in the sea mind. 
We also ventured up to Tibidabo- the big monastery on the giant hill in Barcelona. Not much to say about this other than it's beautiful but extremely high at the very top- a mere 500 metres above sea level. The views were incredible though and definitely worth doing.

The view from Tibidabo

Well, that's that. I hope I didn't bore you all to death with all of this useless information, but that's what I've been up to for the past few weeks. I only have 2 short months left here and I am definitely not wanting to go back to the UK any time soon, I can't believe this time of year has come round already! This means I have to make the most of what time  have left and I am most definitely going to do that- I assure you!

P.s. Just an FYI- my English phone is no longer working.